This 215 minute long DVD presents four episodes from the Discovery Channel.

Episode 1: Amazing Earth

This episode, narrated by Patrick Stewart, is a good introduction to earth history.  It discusses plate tectonics, earthquakes, and the history of life.  It has great cinematography and interesting animations.  It suffers from a somewhat melodramatic narration script.  The background music makes parts of the narration hard to hear.  The episode features great photos of erupting volcanos and buildings shaking during an earthquake.

Episode 2: What Lies Below

This episode follows three female scientists as they explore caves in Iceland.  Once again the cinematography is great.  They explore lava tubes and ice caves and have quite an adventure getting to the last cave.

Episode 3: Wild Weather Ahead

This episode is speculative fiction which dramatizes climate scenarios produced by the Earth Simulator, a super computer in Yokohama, Japan. Al Gore would like this episode. The scenarios are interspersed with scenes from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina to add to the drama. This episode qualifies as a B-grade science fiction movie. It demonstrates that even with super computers its junk in, junk out.

Episode 4: Earth, the Sequel

This episode is essentially an infomercial for the alternative energy industry.  The narrator says in the video that government action is necessary to accelerate development of alternative energy schemes (probably because they could not compete in the free market), and that a cap & trade system for the fossil fuel industry is necessary.  Although this DVD has a 2012 date, this infomercial is made partially obsolete by events such as the failure of Solyndra and other solar companies.   The rosy picture painted in the story has been tarnished by reality.

My overall opinion is that the first two episodes are worth watching; the second two episodes are propaganda and not worth your time.  You have to decide if the DVD is worth your money.

The DVD is available from the Discovery Store here for $14.98 or on Amazon here for $13.49.

Last July I announced a new novel called “Deranged: A Novel of Horror” by Lonni Lees, my wife. The book is her first novel. Her book has now received an independent review by Brendan Matley, editor of an online literary magazine called A Shot Of Ink in Britain.

Here is Brendan’s review:

When first sitting down and sinking my teeth into DERANGED I must admit that I was a little surprised. I was surprised at how good it is.

Now don’t get me wrong, Lonni Lees is a talented writer of short stories (check out her story ‘Desert Venus’ elsewhere on A Shot of Ink), but this was her first full length novel. As any writers out there will testify; creating a novel is a very different skill to writing a short. The plot has to be strong enough to interest the reader over a vastly longer word count, and the characters must be well developed and have suitable depth to carry the narrative. This is where Lonni Lees shines.

The plot involves a psycho named Charlie Blackhawk kidnaping a twelve year old Sabrina Stinson. Meanwhile, a girl named Amy is suffering terrible nightmares that possibly hold the key to saving Sabrina.

The book is beautifully plotted, with Lees leaving the actual kidnaping until relatively late in the story. This allows her to explore the characters and their various interactions with friends and family, leaving the reader with a true sense of caring about their fates. By the time the abduction happens the reader has gotten to know Sabrina quite well so you really feel for her and her family.

The protagonists in DERANGED read as real people as opposed to a cast whose sole purpose it is to forward the plot. I must also mention the secondary players, most notably; the Stinson’s friend Betty and Amy’s friend Freddy. Both of them ooze warmth and likeability tinged with a melancholy that is hard to describe without spoiling the plot. These peripheral characters fill the world nicely; adding extra layers to a relentlessly dark environment.

The story runs at a pitch-perfect pace with a special mention going to chapter fourteen which breathlessly switches between characters giving a wonderful sense of foreboding that only a great book can achieve.

The main players in DERANGED are very well written. Sabrina is a precocious little thing that you can’t help but love. Her grit and determination coupled with her obvious love for her mother make her a well rounded heroine.

Meg (Sabrina’s mother) and Charlie both share a history of sexual abuse, although both have grown into very different adults. Meg is still somewhat of a victim as an adult although she allows herself to commit sexual acts in order to further her career as an actress.

The star of the show, for this reviewer at least, is Charlie Blackhawk. He is a wonderfully creepy villain that exudes a sense of menace whenever he is on the page. Lees weaves his back-story throughout the novel and succeeds in making him both evil and slightly sympathetic; a very difficult trick to pull off.

DERANGED is a curious mix of both horror and crime fiction and fans of either genre will not be disappointed. It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel as it is written with the confidence of a seasoned professional and reads as such.

A Shot of Ink heartily recommends DERANGED as a riveting read. It is available now from both Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Deranged is available from the publisher Wildside Press and from Amazon as a print book and as a Kindle ebook, or may be ordered through your favorite bookstore. It is also available from Barnes & Noble here.

The Manga Guide series take an interesting approach to teaching the principles of science.  Each book is in the form of a graphic novel, supplemented by summary text and graphic explanations at the end of each section.  I have previously reviewed the Manga Guide to Relativity.

Biochemistry is the study of processes that take place inside the bodies of living organisms. This book is suitable for teenagers; it will give them a head start on biology courses.  It is also a good review for adults who what to gain a basic knowledge of how our body works.  The book will be especially interesting to people trying to lose weight as the protagonist in the novel part of the book is trying to do.

The first section, “What happens inside your body” deals with cell structure and function.

The second section, “Photosynthesis and respiration” deals with sugars, carbohydrates, alcohol, and metabolism.  It explains, among other things, why you can lose weight on a low carbohydrate diet.

Section 3, “Biochemistry in our everyday lives” deals with cholesterol and fats, blood types and why fruits get sweeter as they ripen.  It explains the difference between the so-called “good” HDL cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Section 4, “Enzymes are the keys to chemical reactions” explains how proteins and enzymes interact to build and repair body tissue and protect us from foreign invaders.

The last section, “Molecular biology and the biochemistry of nucleic acids” deals with DNA.

The book contains an index for quick reference.

The principal author, Masaharu Takemura, PhD. is an Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Science, specializing in molecular biology and biology education.  He notes in the preface, that the text was checked by two independent scientists in the field, so the book has been “peer-reviewed.”  Artwork was done by Kikuyaro.

The book was published originally in Japanese by Ohmsha Ltd. of Tokyo and in English by No Starch Press Inc. of San Francisco.  This book and others of the Manga Guide series are available at No Starch Press at www.nostarch.com/manga.

The books are also available on Amazon.com.